The R-Type series has been a beloved fan favourite since its humble arcade origins back in the late 80s. It was a side-scrolling shooter which had practically defined the early shoot ‘em ups development scene and was lovingly celebrated for its steep difficulty. That popularity in turn led to various offshoots being released over the years, paying homage to the original series.
One such spinoff was R-Type Tactics I & II, released for the aforementioned PSP in 2007 and 2009 respectively (in Japan). They were turn-based strategies that received quite a decent response from its admittedly small player base. And, as you’d expect from this series, it was well-regarded for being very difficult.
Now that spinoff is back! R-Type Tactics I and II, thanks to Granzella Game Studios, are being remade, remastered, repacked into the dual-title collection of ‘R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos’ and ported to much more modern consoles! This also means that the series’ second instalment will be localised and released to the West for the first time. The games have been redeveloped in Unreal Engine 5 as an effort to restyle and improve graphics but are retaining most of their original features beyond that.
If you’re looking to pick up this bundle, it’ll be made available sometime in 2023 for the PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC (via Steam). But if you can’t wait that long to pull your wallet out, you can support Granzella’s recently announced second Kickstarter campaign, aiming at raising four million yen in crowdfunding to add an additional 24 missions and units to the R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos collection, found here.
